CA Governor Signs SB 785 Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 785 , which prevents lawyers from revealing the immigration status of crime victims and witnesses in open court unless a judge rules the information relevant to the case (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)...
MA House Approves HB 4486 The MASSACHUSETTS House approves HB 4486 , legislation that would raise the Bay State smoking age to 21. It is now in the Senate (BOSTON GLOBE). IA Governor Signs HF 2377 IOWA Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signs HF 2377 , a...
MD Governor Signs HB 1456 MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signs HB 1456 , which establishes offshore drilling as an abnormally dangerous activity and holds the party responsible for a spill liable for damages for any injury, death, or loss to person...
MD Governor Signs HB 251 MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signs HB 251 , which requires local school systems to offer age-appropriate instruction on the meaning of consent in sex education curriculum for middle-school and high-school students (LEXISNEXIS...
Supreme Court Overturns Sports Betting Law The Supreme Court of the United States overturns a federal law that barred states from authorizing sports betting. The ruling came in the case of Murphy v. NCAA. (For more, see Budget & Taxes in this issue...
It’s bad enough the two major parties seem out to kill each other, but now we have intra-party fisticuffs, too? Yes, Jimmy Joe Bob, we do. As the Advocate of Baton Rouge reports , two Republican lawmakers got into a late night disagreement at a...
Former Alaska lawmaker Johnny Ellis saw his share of wacky things during his 29 years in the legislature. But nothing quite like what he experienced last week on a flight back to Anchorage from Seattle, when, as the Anchorage Daily News reports , a fellow...
California Gov. Jerry Brown likes to say the key to governing is like steering a canoe: to move ahead you have to paddle a little to the right, then a little to the left. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin must be listening. As the Associated Press reports , Fallin...
License, registration, sexual favors. Wait, what? Yep, believe it or not, until a few weeks ago there was nothing in Kansas law to prevent police from engaging in sexual activities with someone they pull over on the road or detain in a criminal investigation...
CA GOV PROPOSES LAST STATE BUDGET: CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) unveiled the final budget of his tenure, a plan calling for $199.3 billion in total spending and projecting an $8.8 billion surplus, $7.6 billion of which would be deposited into two...
In March, as an uprising over teacher pay and classroom funding was spreading across the country, the Oklahoma Legislature passed and Gov. Mary Fallin (R) signed a package of tax hikes on cigarettes, energy production and motor fuel ( HB 1010 b ) to help...
In a landmark decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a quarter-century-old law barring states from legalizing wagering on professional and amateur sports. New Jersey argued that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA...
JUDGE ORDERS TX TO ALLOW ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH DPS: A federal judge has ordered the state of TEXAS to allow residents to register to vote online when they renew their driver’s license through the Department of Public Safety’s...
In recent years it hasn’t been uncommon for over 40 percent of the state legislative seats up for election across the nation to go uncontested. But this year is shaping up to be very different. In states where candidate filing deadlines have...
Four states - Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon and Pennsylvania - held primary elections last Tuesday, and at least one trend continued from the previous week’s primaries : Female candidates did well in Democratic primaries. Among other things, they claimed...
CUOMO PROPOSES ELIMINATION OF NY COAL PLANTS : NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ordered the state Department of Environmental Conservation to set new limits on carbon dioxide emissions he said would make Empire State power plants entirely coal-free by...
Prosecutors abruptly dropped felony invasion of privacy charges against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) last week, just days before his trial was set to begin. The dismissal came after a court ruled that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner had...
Saying he is frustrated with federal inaction, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) issued an executive order last week that will create a state office tasked with helping immigrants find jobs, health care and education. Ohio was built by immigrants and to...
Thirty-two states have expanded Medicaid in accordance with the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act but letting states decide whether or not to implement the Medicaid expansion provided for by the federal law. A budget proposal...
The Affordable Care Act, long a punching bag for Republicans, has survived body blows from Congress and the Trump administration and could become a political asset for Democrats in an election year in which they hope to gain legislative and congressional...
Data scientists are playing an increasingly important role in organizations – from introducing new technologies like AI and machine learning to harnessing the power of the large amounts of information that often already exist inside company walls...
Corporate social responsibility efforts not only benefit the planet and brand reputation, but they are also key to attracting millennial consumers. These plugged-in and open-minded yet strongly opinionated buyers are particular about the brands they...
The planet benefits from corporate social responsibility strategies regardless, but brands begin to benefit when consumers are aware of those efforts. Reducing a carbon footprint is a good look for brands, and it engages consumers when the particular...
For many companies, ‘doing the right thing’ is not enough to persuade them to take an ethical, sustainable approach to business. But they will surely be convinced by new evidence that a sustainable approach to business can improve their share...
The Travel Industry has suffered plenty of blows in the past year, thanks to videos that go viral. But while some airlines failed to adequately address the reputational risk arising from customer footage of regrettable moments, Carnival Cruise Lines recently...